Wreck of the Day
by AB24
Summary: CHAPTER FIVE IS UP! Summary: Chloe's mistake costs her more than her pride. JackChloe Warning: character death Also, title taken from Anna Nalick's Wreck of the Day
1. Chapter 1

Chloe felt her heart dropping steadily as she stared into the floor underneath her feet, not even needing to look into Bill's eyes to see the anger and unforgivingly hostile disappointment that was shining through them and burning into her center. The only thing more powerful than his hardened glare was the remorse and grief that was building inside of her and threatening to explode into her tightening chest. It didn't help that she was standing near her work station in full view of the unkind eyes that surrounded her.

"It...it was an accident," Chloe muttered, her voice a mere whisper trembling from the tears that she couldn't fight off much longer.

"An accident?" Bill's voice thundered across the floor as the entire building watched from all around them, including Jack, who stood just a few feet away from them. Jack wanted nothing more than to grab Chloe and whisk her away to safety from the judgement surrounding her, whether it was deserved or not. "Thanks to your accident, Chloe, Curtis Manning is dead. Thanks to your mistake, he gave his life for nothing."

Jack stepped forward. "Bill, please."

"Stay out of this, Jack," Bill warned, directing his anger towards the other man in the form of a sharply pointed finger before turning back to Chloe.

The unprecedentedly enraged tone of his voice was enough to force the tears in Chloe's eyes to spill over, let alone his words. Jack watched as his legendarily strong best friend fell slumped and defeated as she lowered her head even further and gave into the crushing wave of tears behind her eyes. Bill was unfazed. "Consider yourself permanently relieved of your duties. Now get out of my sight."

She turned and ran off of the floor towards the exit, covering her mouth and nose with a shaky hand as the bagel she'd managed to get down at lunch hours ago threatened to return from her stomach. Jack glared at Bill one last time before running after her, ignoring the loud whispers that were now engulfing the atmosphere and going to work on forever damaging Chloe's name. If she ever needed him, this, he knew, was it.

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Jack watched as her car pulled out of its parking space and immediately rushed into the driver's seat of his own car, intent on following her wherever it was she was running to. She didn't notice, her vision partially blurred by the steady stream of moisture raining from her eyes as she slammed her foot on the gas to get as far away from CTU as possible. Bill's words echoed through her mind mercilessly, taunting her as the memory of the man whose life was lost tonight slowly broke her heart and introduced her to a feeling she had never felt, or thought she'd ever feel, before - the devastation of being held responsible for the death of a friend.

Whether or not it was a fair accusation didn't matter. It had been made, and made by Chloe herself before anybody else had the chance to. She had led him into a trap, a trap that could have been avoided if she had simply gone to Buchanan and told him of the plan against Curtis' wishes. He could have had back up, resources that could have told him the threat against his family was a hoax meant to draw him into one man's sick wish for the revenge of somebody Curtis barely remembered. In truth, it was no different from the kinds of stunts she & Jack had pulled countless times, except this time, her partner in crime hadn't made it back. And if that wasn't devastating enough, she had listened to his final breath escape in the form of a agonizing scream that had ripped through her earpiece and seared into her memory forever.

That sound was all she could hear as she sped aimlessly down the highway. She didn't want to go home. She didn't want to go anywhere. She ran through a red light, unknowingly forcing Jack to do the same as he accelerated to keep up behind her. He was grateful the streets were mostly empty, sure that she would have gotten herself into a crash by now had they have been busy.

But he gave thanks too soon.

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Jack's legs were numb as they propelled him out of his car and towards the ditch that Chloe's car had plunged into when she swerved to avoid an oncoming car. It was a small ditch, but a ditch nonetheless, and the rear of the car was all he could see before he finally came within full sight of the accident.

After jumping into the ditch he rushed to the driver's side and pulled at the jammed door, looking inside to see Chloe unconscious with her face buried inside the ejected airbag. The sight sent a fresh blast of adrenaline through his veins, and with one more pull he broke the door open.

He pulled her limp body out of the car and carried her out of the ditch and to a patch of nearby grass, calling her name frantically as he filled with dread that the worst was true. He knelt down on the ground and held her close, somewhat comforted when he felt her chest rise and fall against his own.

"Come on, Chloe, come on," he pleaded, cradling her head with one hand and checking the pulse in her wrist with his other. He was relieved to find a surprisingly strong pulse, and even more relieved by her coughing fit that followed.

"Chloe, can you hear me?" he asked as she opened her eyes in utter confusion, unable to see much of anything through the dark of night, save for a nearby streetlight that instantly blinded her. Her head felt like it was on fire, and she could have sworn both of her legs were broken as her coughing eased and her eyes adjusted. She focused on the familiar face that was so close to hers - maybe a bit too close - and with some effort she opened her mouth to speak. "What happened?"

"You had an accident, Chloe, but you're okay, I promise," he replied, tears forming behind his eyes as he took a breath for the first time since seeing her car dive into the ditch.

_An accident._ Her memory was triggered, and she closed her eyes and felt her physical pain be eclipsed by another kind of pain. She struggled to sit up out of his arms, wincing and holding onto her throbbing head. "God, my head..."

"Your head hurts?" he asked, his hands never leaving her back and waist as if she'd break if he let go. "Come on, Chloe, I'll take you to the hospital."

"No," she immediately snapped, rising to her feet on her wobbly legs. He rose with her and caught her when her knees gave out. He held her upright in his arms as she began to tremble from the cool air that was blowing around them in frequent breezes.

"Dammit, Chloe, I have got to take you to a hospital," he repeated as she tried to regain her footing. "Look at your car - you shouldn't even be conscious right now."

"But I am," she replied, "Please, Jack, I don't want to go to a hospital."

He paused and took her face into his hands as she gripped his shoulders for balance. "Then where do you want to go?"

She looked down and felt her eyes burn with the sting of fresh tears. "I don't know. I don't want to go anywhere."

"Come here," he whispered before bringing her into an embrace. He closed his eyes and wondered to himself why she of all people had to go through what this day had thrown at her. He could have held her like he was for as long as time allowed, but she was weak and needed to rest. Gently he eased her around and started walking her to his car, past the ditch where her car sat totaled in. She took one look at the car and went pale, wondering how she was still walking.

He helped her into the backseat of his car and looked over her injuries, which besides her possible concussion were mild, though the bruises that covered both of her legs from her calves to her ankles begged to differ. "Chloe, please let me take you to a hospital," he asked of her one last time.

"I'm fine," she muttered. "Just take me home."

He paused and brushed a piece of frayed hair behind her ear, not surprised when she turned away from his touch. She kept her eyes facing blankly forward as he took his jacket off and leaned in to gently wrap it around her. He then closed the door and moved to the driver's seat, keeping an eyes on her as she held his jacket snugly around her shivering body and stretched out across the length of the backseat in a futile attempt to get comfortable. She was exhausted, but when she closed her eyes the images she saw forced her to open them. _How did I get here_? she asked herself as the car moved to take her back to safety, the only safety she had left.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Jack passed up the turn that would have led to her apartment. Though she doubted she would have been able to say it to him that night, she needed him tonight. She needed him more than anything else in the world.

To be continued, I promise. :)


	2. Chapter 2

chapter two

If Chloe had ever imagined Jack carrying her in his arms into his apartment, it certainly wasn't under these circumstances. The dull and sharp aches alternating throughout her body prevented her from feeling anything other than pain despite the tender presence of the only person who had cared enough to chase after her when she fled, save her when she drove into a ditch at double the speed limit, and carry her to safety when they both knew she could have walked. She wondered if she was worthy of this kind of care, unaware that in his eyes, no mistake she could have made would have stopped him from caring for her and doing everything in his power to look after. Others may have judged her and pointed the finger at her mistake, placing the blame and the consequences on her, but they had never been where he had been. He knew the look in Chloe's eyes all too well, and he despised that they were now bonded by the shared experience of this kind of self-blame. It was an experience he would wish on nobody.

He carried her to the couch in his modest sitting room, lying her down before turning to close the door and flip the lights on. When the room was illuminated she looked around the apartment surrounding her, surprised to find it nearly immaculate. She never would have thought to tag Jack Bauer a neat freak, but the perfectly organized and spotless minimalist furniture and the dustless surfaces begged to differ. Her eyes found a bookcase that leaned against the bright white wall to her left, each of its many books organized alphabetically and by subject. Something else she wouldn't have pegged him as was a World War II history buff, but she was again corrected by the bookcase's revelatory contents.

Chloe propped up her back against the arm of the couch behind her when Jack appeared with a first aid kit in tow. She was relieved to feel something other than pain when a slightly antsy feeling took over as he sat opposite to her on the couch and took one of her bruised legs into his hands. She crossed her arms against her chest and ignored the jitters, searching for something, anything, to say.

"This place is really...clean," she muttered, watching as an amused grin was shown in response. She tried to reciprocate but couldn't, the idea of forming a smile seeming obscene somehow. A touch of antiseptic was applied to a cut that ran across her right ankle, prompting a small cry in response.

"Sorry," he quickly replied, covering the cut with a piece of gauze.

She pursed her lips and felt a sudden twitch of discomfort as he switched to her other leg. "You don't have to do this, you know," she said, garnering no reaction from him as he studiously examined another cut, a larger one. "I'm sure you hate me like everybody else does, and just so you know, I don't blame you."

"Nobody hates you, Chloe," he replied, meeting her eyes before swabbing the cut with more antiseptic.

This time she didn't feel the sting. "I do."

He again looked up at her and opened his mouth to speak but fell short of the right words. He knew there were no right words, not when she was this raw. Really, he didn't know if there would ever be any right words, only the dulling effect of time.

He closed the kit and set it on the floor next to his feet, leaning forward on the edge of the cushion under him with his elbows on his knees before taking a breath and speaking. "Chloe..."

"Save your breath, Jack," she quickly interrupted. "I know what you're going to say, and it's not going to make a difference, so don't."

He looked down to his feet and ignored his instinct to argue in favor of what he knew to be true. "I know."

She paused at the depth of his voice, knowing the feeling and the experience that was behind it. Many times before the roles had been reversed and it was Jack who had struggled with the consequences of his actions, and it was Chloe who would try to convince him that he had made the right calls, but now she understood why he never seemed to listen or even try to believe her.

He turned his head towards hers and spoke softly. "Curtis and I were a lot alike. It was never hard to work with him," he said as she cast her eyes down. "We had a lot of the same instincts. He always followed his gut, always did whatever was necessary, and was usually a lot more rational than I ever was, but..." His eyes narrowed and pulled hers back into his gaze. "He would have gone into that situation with or without you. You were the only chance he had of making it out at all."

"I could have told Buchanan what he was doing. I had a million chances to stop what happened, Jack."

"You don't know that," he argued softly.

"Yes, I do, okay?" she snapped, her eyes too worn to produce tears. A dry numbness replaced the urge to cry. "I told you, nothing you say is going to change anything."

"Listen to me," he said with more force to his voice as he turned and moved in closer. "Nobody understands what you're feeling right now better than I do, Chloe, nobody. And I promise you, once you go down this road, there is no turning back. You can either accept that some things, and some people, are beyond your control, or you can let this eat at you until there's nothing left."

By the look in his eyes she knew that he had chosen the latter more than once. "This wasn't out of my control. I really wish it was, but all I had to do was-"

"It was an impossible decision, Chloe," he interrupted, his tone giving away that he was trying to convince himself as much as he was her. "Don't you know how easily the same thing could have happened to me? Do you think I'd blame anybody but myself if it did?"

The thought wasn't comforting. "Well, on the bright side, I guess nobody has to worry about that anymore. I'm sure Buchanan will personally make sure I never step foot inside CTU again, not that he has to."

Jack paused and looked away, her mention of Bill's outburst instantly raising his ire. He would deal with Bill later. "I should have stood up for you. I'm sorry. He was in shock. We all were."

Her mind briefly wandered to her future, reality setting in that she was going to have to start over yet again, that her life had been uprooted and thrown unwillingly into its next chapter. It only made her head pound even harder than it already was. "I still can't believe it," she muttered, her voice hitching with emotion that hurt all the more from her inability to release it.

Jack sensed her pain and leaned back into the couch, reaching out and meeting a tired lack of resistance when he pulled her into his arms and held her head against his chest. She closed her eyes and settled into him, so exhausted that curling up with him on a barely accommodating couch didn't give her one second of pause. He was warm and encompassing, setting her mind at ease just long enough to close her eyes as the world around her stilled and fell silent to the heartbeat ticking softly in her ear. A deep breath escaped her throat, and she slowly drifted away to a place she hoped could be a refuge from the new normal that awaited her on the other side.

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He didn't know how much time had passed as she slept soundly in his arms, and he was afraid to move her for fear of waking her. He also knew there would be no sleep for himself tonight, not after everything that had happened. And there was one last thing he had to do before he could allow his mind to take a rest.

Careful not to shift her weight too much from her current position, he managed to struggle off of the couch with her still in his arms without disturbing her sleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, he dropped a kiss on the top of the head that rested against his shoulder and carried her to his bedroom.

After tucking her into his bed and underneath his sheets he lingered over her for a moment, reaching down and brushing her hair away from her face before releasing a sigh and turning to leave. Reluctantly he left her and pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his jeans and let his lips curve into the scowl he had been reserving for this moment since Chloe had fallen asleep.

As the line rang on the other end he closed the bedroom door behind him and left the hallway for the sitting room, where he paced until a clearly freshly woken voice answered.

"Buchanan," Bill answered as the still very-awake Karen stirred next to him.

"Bill, it's Jack," he replied, the words so oft-repeated he didn't know how to say them in a way that would channel the anger he intended to.

"Jack, what's going on?" Bill asked, the previous times Jack had called him in the middle of the night always signaling the onslaught of another crisis.

"I'll tell you what's going on," Jack seethed. "Chloe was in an accident tonight. She was driving at double the speed limit, swerved to avoid a car, and drove into a ditch where she totaled her car. I watched it happen."

"My God, is she alright?" Bill asked, sitting up and flipping on the light on the nightstand beside the bed. Karen followed, watching his face give away the nature of the news. After listening to his account of what had happened that night, she could guess who the "she" was, and she wasn't surprised.

"No, Bill, she's not alright. What the hell were you thinking?"

Bill closed his eyes and tried to brush off his words. "Listen, just tell me what hospital she's in, and I'll-"

"She's not in a hospital, Bill. She's here."

"In your apartment?"

"Yes, in my apartment. She refused to let me take her to a hospital," he replied, softening his tone for his next words. "Dammit, Bill, she needed her friends to stand behind her tonight, not humiliate her in front of every single person inside of CTU. You have no idea what you did to her."

"I didn't have a choice, Jack, she crossed a line, and I lost one of my best agents as a result."

"And she lost one of her best friends as a result.", Jack countered. "You don't think she doesn't understand that? You don't think this isn't going to haunt her for the rest of her life?"

Jack listened as silence filled the other end, a silence that proved he had made his point. "Listen, Jack...I'm glad you're taking care of her, but I don't know what it is you think I can do."

"You can understand, Bill. And you can give her a second chance. She deserves a lot better than this, and you know that. You should be thanking her for the time she's given CTU when you know as well as I do that she could be making triple what she's paid by tomorrow. It's your loss, Bill, not hers."

Bill began to respond, but a sound coming from down the hall pierced Jack's ears and forced the blood flowing through his veins to run ice cold. "I'll call you back," Jack muttered, dropping the phone and running out of the sitting room and down the hallway, bursting into his bedroom to find Chloe in the grips of what was sure to be the first of many nightmares.

He rushed to her side and climbed into the bed, calling her name as he pulled her into his arms and tried not to let himself break at the sound of her voice crying jumbled words and the sight of her body jerking against its own will without regard to her injuries. On his knees, he tried to pull Chloe to hers as he clasped her forearms in his hands to stop them from flying about aimlessly.

"Chloe," he called as her eyes remained clenched shut, "Chloe, wake up, come on...please, Chloe, wake up." He called her name over and over as she began to find her way back to reality from the darkness that had engulfed her mind and threatened to not let go. His voice grew hushed as her eyes stirred and finally opened and the movements of her limbs came to a full halt. She looked around the room and to the light shining from the hallway through the open door, then back to him. The nightmare was over, but the terror that it brought was still there, only enhanced by the realization that she had awoken to the same world she had fallen asleep in. He watched her eyes fill with tears and quickly took her back into his arms, rocking her slightly as he whispered words of comfort into her ear. Her arms wrapped around him and gripped the fabric of his shirt into her fists as she pressed her face into his shoulder and wept harder than she ever had in her life. He tried to hide the fact that tears of his own had begun to flow, telling himself to get a grip and be the rock that she needed right now, but it was no use. He didn't realize what a significant place she held in his heart until it broke for her.

When her breaths eased and her grips softened, he sniffed away his emotion and eased her back down on the bed, pulling the covers back and crawling under them with her. The dim light from the hallway captured the shine in his eyes for a moment, showing his tears to Chloe before he pulled her close to him. They lay facing one another for a moment, his one arm holding her while the other's hand wiped her tears from her face and softly caressed her cheek. Her hand reached to cover his, and her eyes closed as she settled into the crook of his neck and the protection of his arms. He felt like a home away from home, the comfort he provided somehow enough to stop he pounding in her head and aching in her heart, if only for those few moments before she drifted back to sleep.

Jack stared into the ceiling above them until he could keep his eyes open no longer, giving into the desire for sleep that he thought would never come. The world and the nightmares that awaited in it could wait until morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Audrey took one hand off of the steering wheel before her to reach inside of her coat pocket and retrieve her ringing phone, flipping it open without checking the caller ID as she maneuvered to a halt at a red light. "Hello."

"Audrey, it's Bill," Buchanan answered from his CTU office. "Have you left yet?"

"Yeah, I'm about ten minutes away from CTU. What's going on?"

Bill paused. "Audrey, I need you to go to Jack and tell him I can't afford not to have him here today. He was supposed to be here an hour ago, and he's not answering his phone. Can you do that for me?"

Audrey paused, looking in her rearview mirror to see if traffic was clear for a U turn. "Um...sure, I can, but if he's not answering his phone, how do you know where he is?"

Bill sat down and transferred the call to his handset. "Audrey," he sighed into the phone, "there's something you need to know."

She knew that tone well. She gripped the wheel tighter and braced herself.

"Last night Chloe was in a car accident that took place after she left here. Jack found her in her crashed into a ditch."

"My God, is she okay?" Audrey quickly asked, having heard only rumors of the events that transpired the night before.

"I don't know the extent of her injuries. All I know is that she refused to go to a hospital, and Jack took her back to his apartment."

"So she's there now?"

"I assume. I also assume he has no intention of coming in today, but we've got new leads on the cell that took Curtis out, and I need him here."

"Okay," Audrey breathed, silently bracing herself as she took her car in Jack's direction. "I'm on my way."

"Thank you, Audrey," he muttered placing the phone back in its cradle and wishing there was somebody else he could have called for this task. It was a strange situation, all around, and he doubted Audrey's role would remain uncompromised in the new configurations that had formed the night before.

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Audrey had been in Washington D.C. for the last week. She returned to Los Angeles not long after midnight the night before, just in time to avoid CTU's crisis and be too tired to trek to Jack's apartment, where they had planned to meet after her arrival. By the time she woke up she was already late for work, and after Jack failed to answer her calls, she assumed she would find him at CTU with everyone else, that life would survive what had transpired and she & Jack would merely pick up where they had left off. She had barely processed that Curtis was dead, and now Chloe was, for all she knew, irreparably injured, and under Jack's private care. It was safe to assume she had no idea what to expect as she parked outside his building and prepared to enter the scene.

At the door, she placed the key he had given her into the lock and turned it slowly, advancing carefully into the darkened apartment and wondering if he was even here by the dark and mildly abandoned look of the place. But she continued through the rooms into the hallway, quietly calling his name as she approached his bedroom, the door to which was still slightly ajar and leaking light from the window inside. She pushed the door open and stepped into the doorway, not knowing that nothing could have prepared her for what she saw inside.

They hadn't moved an inch all night, still clung together under the covers and tied to one another seamlessly, the sight appearing so natural that it may have been the most startling aspect of all. Audrey stared with blank eyes as her chest tightened and mind screamed silently, her feet seemingly stuck to the floor and forcing her to take in the sight of the man she loved holding another woman, his loyal ally, their friend, the way he held her every night they shared together. Her hand rose to cover her mouth and she stepped back, finally tearing her eyes away as shock turned to anger and loosened the moment's grip on her feet. She turned and all but ran, not stopping until she was outside gulping fresh air and trying to get ahold of herself as she switched to autopilot. She got behind the wheel and turned on the ignition, backing out of the parking lot and not looking back.

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Chloe woke up alone, the first thing her mind registering upon the opening of her eyes the smell of something she hadn't smelled in years - the scent of a properly cooked breakfast. She sat up in bed and prayed that when she walked out of his bedroom she wouldn't find Jack Bauer hovering over a greased skillet and flipping pancakes. Then reality was suddenly forced upon her like a brick wall against her head.

_Oh my God, I'm in Jack Bauer's bed,_ she almost cried out loud, eyes wide as she took in the room around her and scrambled to remember what happened before the coma-like sleep she had been under for who knew how many hours. She moved a leg out of the bed and brought her foot to the floor, the pain that shot sharply through from her ankle to knee quickly reminding her of the accident, and the accident in turn reminding her of what preceded it. A numb weariness replaced the pain that had held her heart like a vice the night before, and now the harsh sunlight of morning seemed to force her uncomfortably into the ominous "day after", the mere idea of which sparking a dull ache throughout her body as she limped out of bed and past a mirror that hung on the wall above Jack's dresser. She stopped and took in her frayed reflection - her beyond-mussed hair, cut that rested above her left brow, pale skin, eyes that were noticeably still sore from the rivers she had cried. She remembered the nightmares, the way Jack had soothed her in his arms, how he had even cried with her before sleep had beckoned them both and given them peace, if just for one night. She didn't know what it meant or how it translated to today, if at all. But she suspected it would end up a mere blip on the radar, a rare gift amid what might just prove to be the worst period of her life.

Chloe ventured out of his bedroom and down the hall, turning the corner tentatively before stopping and staring at the sight of Jack Bauer indeed hovering over a greased skillet, though not flipping pancakes but frying eggs - something of a relief, considering anybody could fry eggs, but still notable nonetheless. He soon noticed her out of the corner of his eye, offering quietly, "Hey."

"Hey," she replied, looking down and trudging to the small table he had set with glasses of water and orange juice. She didn't care how nice it was, it was still weird, and she was already uncomfortable being here in the first place. She stared at the table in front of her in silence until a plate of eggs and toast was set in front of her and a hand came to rest on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Um...no, but I guess I'm not really supposed to be, so," she muttered, briefly looking up and meeting his eyes before returning her stare to the table. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Ten," he answered, giving her shoulder a squeeze before heading back over to the stovetop.

"Ten? Why aren't you at CTU yet?"

"Because I'm not going in today, that's why," he muttered, throwing dishes into the kitchen sink.

"Why?" she pressed.

"Because I'm not."

She scowled, not having to think very hard to see what was at work here. "I don't need a babysitter, you know."

"I didn't say you did," he replied, turning to look at her before his phone rang and interrupted. He looked away and plucked his cell out of his pocket. "Yeah."

"Jack, it's Bill. Where are you?"

Jack sighed and walked to the far end of the kitchen, as far out of Chloe's earshot as he could without leaving her. She listened in fervently, fork picking idly at the food her body was hungry for but couldn't seem to be motivated to get down. "I'm home, Bill, I haven't left."

"How's Chloe?"

"She's fine. Listen, I know what you're going to ask me to do, Bill, but I can't. Not today. Not after last night."

"And under normal circumstances I wouldn't have a problem with that, Jack, but we have new leads on Hasan and I need you here to follow up on them."

Jack paused, his eyes to the floor. "How good?"

"Very good. We found financial connections we traced back to several LA corporations and have the names of former associates of his who are already in our custody. We're struggling enough as it is without Curtis and Chloe, Jack. We need you here."

"You're asking a lot, Bill," Jack murmured, glancing back at Chloe, who immediately looked back down to the table.

"I'm asking you to do what's necessary. Nothing more."

"Fine," Jack muttered through gritted teeth before hanging up, not caring to hear Bill's thank you. He turned again and headed for the table, taking a seat across from Chloe as he spoke again. "I have to go into CTU for awhile."

"Good, you should," she quickly replied. "I told you, I'm fine."

"No, you told me you're not fine, Chloe," he answered as her scowl deepened. "Listen, I want you to stay here and get some more rest while I'm gone. I'll go by your place later and pick up some of your things for you."

Her eyes widened at his words and their implications, which nearly shocked her. "B-, but...that would sound like I'm moving in here with you, Jack."

"Call it what you want, you're in no position to be alone right now," he replied.

"I've been taking care of myself for a long time, Jack, I don't need you watching me at all hours as if I'm going to fall apart and lose at any minute like..." she quickly halted her voice before it utter a name she couldn't take back once she said it.

"Like what?" he pressed.

"Like nothing," she sighed, rolling her eyes before continuing. "Why don't you just drop me off at my place on your way to CTU?"

"Chloe..."

"Look, I know you're trying to be really nice and protective of me and everything, but let's face it, I don't think Audrey would be very happy if I was sleeping on your couch every night," she pointed out, watching him nod slightly to himself rather than argue.

"Right. Fine. I'll go get your things," he muttered, rising out of the chair as she drew and released a deep breath, knowing that once she left this bubble and stepped into her place, life would have to begin again. It felt like nothing she had ever felt before to be taken care of by Jack, but she knew herself well enough to know that if she were to regain her footing and start over, she would have to be the one to do it. Never would she be one to rely on a man to see her through each day, not while she could still walk, talk, and eat by herself, not even if that man was Jack Bauer.

The moment arrived and Chloe found herself walking towards the front door as he held it open for her, her head down and still in a bit of pain from the trauma of the previous night. She had one foot through the door and into the hallway when his voice brought her to a stop. "Chloe."

She turned and they stood parallel to another as their eyes locked. "You're sure about this?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "I might be traumatized but I haven't gone soft."

He let a small grin cross his lips in response. "You do know that, whatever you need, all you have to do is call me?"

"Yeah, I know," she replied, and she did know. He was the last person in her life who had never let her down once. What she didn't realize is that she was the same for him, many times over.

He patted her shoulder and followed behind as they exited his apartment, back into the world and into its aftermath.

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The light on her answering machine was blinking wildly, but Chloe ignored it, along with the rest of the apartment that sat deceptively in the same form she had left it in the day before, before her already tedious life unraveled a few more threads. She stepped over the piles of random boxes and laundry that peppered her floors and made a beeline for the comfort and seclusion of her shower, where she could wash away at least some of wreckage, the parts that others could see. The rest would take time, but for now, she would choose to be content with the benignity of numbness that allowed her to ignore the truth, slip into her head and feel nothing. She would throw herself into finding work, then lose herself in it just as she had at CTU. She wouldn't think about Curtis. She wouldn't think about what her supposed friends were saying about her. She wouldn't think about the sickening crack of glass that was the last thing she heard before she plunged into that ditch. She wouldn't think about how the arms of the one man she couldn't have had almost made it all go away. She would simply stand and let the water she turned until it was scalding hot pour over her cuts and bruises and remind her that she was alive, that the deadness inside was only temporary, and in time she could move on, maybe even come to accept what was now a part of her and a part of her past.

One step at a time.

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Jack stood in the middle of the chaos that was CTU, watching the three analysts brought in to replace Chloe bicker at each other as if they had any territory to rightfully claim for themselves, and he shuddered at the kind of place the agency was without her. He looked up into the clear walls of Buchanan's office and started to walk away from the relentless noise on the floor towards the staircase leading to the office, stopping when he caught a glimpse of Audrey standing at a workstation not far from where he was standing. "Audrey?"

She turned her head at his voice and saw him walking towards her, prompting her to pick up the stack of documents sitting on her desk and tuck them under her arm, which merely gave her an excuse to walk away. "Hi, Jack," she muttered as she turned her back to him and headed to the situation room.

""Hey," he smiled, catching up and taking to walking alongside her. "When did you get back?"

"Midnight," she replied, staring forward as he struggled to meet her eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you," he said, for the first time realizing last night was something he might have to explain to her. Now that he realized it, he wasn't sure how to. "Did Bill tell you what happened last night?"

She stopped and turned to him, unable to make it to the situation room before her composure dissolved. "Why don't you tell me what happened last night, Jack? Why don't you give me your version? I'm sure it's a good one."

His brows lowered. "What?"

"Bill called me earlier his morning and told me you weren't answering his calls. He asked me to stop by your apartment and see if I could convince you to come into work today," she said as his expression slowly began to change. "I saw you, Jack. I saw you asleep in bed with Chloe. And by the way, she looked fine to me."

"Audrey," he attempted as she started to turn on her heel. "Audrey, let me explain."

She didn't listen, letting out a small yelp when he grabbed her arm from behind and twirled her back around. "Audrey, please," he pleaded, his grip tight as she tried to wriggle away from him.

"Please, what?" she snapped, finally yanking her arm away. "I know what I saw."

"No, you don't," he replied softly. "Give me a chance to explain, Audrey, please." When she didn't snap back or walk away, he took it as a green light and began the story. "She was in bad shape last night, Audrey, really bad shape. She fell asleep on the couch, and I took her into my room to sleep for the rest of the night. I was going to sleep on the couch, but she started having nightmares. I went in to wake her up, and..." his voice trailed off as Audrey looked away. "I give you my word, Audrey. Nothing happened. You know I'd never do that to you."

"So, what," she muttered, "you were trying to comfort her back to sleep, and you just fell asleep with her?"

"I know what it sounds like," he replied, "but I promise you it didn't happen like that."

She took a breath and briefly closed her eyes before looking into his. "I really, really want to believe you, Jack, but you didn't see what I saw."

"Audrey," he whispered before both of their attentions were turned across the floor to a scene unfolding between an exasperated Bill and one of the analysts brought in to replace Chloe.

"No, I'm not getting back to work until somebody tells me what the bloody hell is going on here!" the analyst exclaimed. "Either somebody tells me where Chloe is and what is going on with her or I'm walking!"

Audrey turned back to Jack, who was by now watching intently as the spat escalated. "Did he say Chloe?"

"I don't know, Jack," she sighed.

He turned back to her and and quickly said, "Listen, we'll talk more about this later. But I promise you, Audrey, I am telling you the truth."

She didn't reply, keeping her eyes to her feet as he briefly lingered before heading off towards the floor. He walked through the overcrowded stations until he made his way to the one who most eyes were glued upon, demanding "What's going on?" as soon as he approached and saw the death ray shooting from Bill's eye.

"You take care of this, Jack," Bill pointed before storming off and yelling at the gawkers to get back to work.

Jack turned to the analyst and eyed him curiously. "Jack? Are you Jack Bauer?" the man asked upon hearing Bill saying his name.

"Yeah," Jack replied, repeating, "What's going on?"

"Thank God," he sighed. "Since I was called in to replace Chloe today, I have left 10 messages on her machine, I drove by her apartment earlier but she wasn't there, and nobody here will tell me a bloody thing about whether she's even alive or not."

"Wait," Jack squinted, trying to recognize this man but failing miserably. "Are you a friend of hers?"

"We were married for four years, so yes, I'd say she's a friend of mine," he replied dryly, pointing to the ID tag on his shirt that identified him as Morris O'Brian. "I take it you never read her personal file?" Morris guessed as Jack continued to stare blankly.

"Um," he finally choked out, clearing his throat, "No, I guess I missed that part. Chloe's fine. She's at her apartment if you want to see her."

"Are you sure? Because I was just there two hours ago, and she wasn't there."

"I'm sure," Jack replied, trying not to wince at an uneasiness spreading through his stomach.

Morris nodded. "Alright. Then that's where I'm going," he said, grabbing his coat off of the chair behind the workstation that was his for exactly 45 minutes. Jack watched as Morris sprinted away and felt his unease intensify for reasons he wasn't sure of. He shifted his gaze east and briefly exchanged eyes with Audrey across the floor, unsure if he even believed the denials he had given her with such conviction a few moments earlier. He thought they were true. He wanted them to be true. But they didn't feel true, especially now that somebody he didn't know and didn't trust was on his way to Chloe.

But there was work to be done. He again set his sights on Bill's office, though he suspected it would take nothing short of another crisis to take his mind off his heart and the fact that it wasn't here at CTU.

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Weird place to stop, I know. Chapter four coming soon :)


	4. Chapter 4

A furious knock on the door jolted Chloe from her daze on the couch in her living room. She had been sitting there for longer than she realized, lost in her tangled thoughts and staring into nothing before she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of knuckles pounding against her door. She sighed and dragged herself off of her semi-comfortable perch and went to the door, fiddling with her three industrial strength locks before opening it to the face of her past.

"Morris?" she squinted before he almost lunged at her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight.

"Oh, Chloe, darling," he cooed, rocking her slightly as her arms rose to awkwardly hold his shoulders, "I came as soon as I found out what happened." He pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. "Are you okay?"

She sighed and gripped his wrists lightly, moving them away from her face. "Yeah, Morris, I'm fine. You don't have to do this."

"Do what? Chloe, nobody would be fine after what you've been through," he argued, taking one of her arms and studying the bruises that ran down it. "My God, Chloe, I...no."

Her brows furrowed. "'No' what?"

His eyes narrowed and he turned to close the door behind him. "No, I am not going to let you push me away this time, sweetheart. I'm sorry, but you're not fine, and as long as you aren't, I'm not going anywhere."

Her scowl deepened and she turned, walking back to the couch as she muttered under her breath, "I so don't need this right now." She plopped down on the couch and crossed her arms tightly against her chest, staring forward as he followed from behind, not hesitating to take a seat beside her.

They sat silently for a moment as Morris took in her appearance. She wasn't as pale as the night before, but he didn't know the difference; her air-dried auburn hair was drifting off in random directions; the cuts on her face stood out in sharp contrast against the rest of her skin; and her eyes were distant, a map of her mind and an indication of how far away it was. "Would you like to talk about what happened?"

"Sure, Morris, I'd love to," she rolled her eyes.

"You know, Chloe," he sighed, "take it from somebody who knows it well: bottling everything up is the absolute worst way to cope. The absolute worst way."

"Yeah, well, it's working fine for me so far, if you don't mind." she replied, sinking further into the couch.

"I do mind," he countered, now facing her and trying to pull her gaze into his. "Do you remember the time when you literally grabbed me and dragged me off of our couch all through our house, out the door and into your car and forced me to go to rehab and get my act together?"

"How could I forget, it was our second anniversary," she muttered, pursing her lips to avoid any movements resembling the knowing grin crossing his face.

"Yes, that one," he replied. "I'm not comparing the two situations, because none of this is your fault, as opposed to then, which was, as is everything, my own stupid fault. But you saw me going down a very bad road and you refused to allow it. You did the right thing. I'm not going to do any differently."

"And what do you think you can do?" she asked, finally meeting his eyes. "What makes you think you can just swoop in out of nowhere and fix me with your magic wand?"

"Well, because for one, love, you know better than anyone just how magical my magic wand is, and if I were you, I wouldn't mock its healing powers."

"I really hope you're not referring to-"

"Of course I am."

Chloe couldn't help but twist her frown into a tight grin. "You're unbelievable, Morris."

"Ah, but I brought a smile to your face, did I not?" he smiled, reaching out and brushing a thumb against her chin. "Now when was the last time you ate? You look like hell."

"Thanks," she sighed. "I tried to eat this morning."

"Tried?"

"Yes, I tried, but I wasn't hungry then, and I'm not hungry now. What it with everybody trying to feed me?" she mused.

"Because everybody knows you're not going to do it yourself. Not that I'm aware of who 'everybody' is, but be that as it may," he shrugged, his eyes wandering to the adjacent kitchen. He knew she stocked little more than coffee, unless she had undergone a massive transformation since their time together. "Tell you what," he began with a deep breath, "no normal human being would ever want these things following a traumatic ordeal, but what if I ran down to Sonic and got you some of those disgusting chilli cheese fries you adore so much?"

He could have sworn that her eyes almost sparkled at the suggestion. "My chilli cheese fries?" she repeated, her stomach growling at their mere mention.

"I will take that as a yes," he replied, standing up and fishing his car keys out from the pocket of his jeans. "I will be back very soon, love. Stay put and focus on the fries."

"Yeah, yeah," she half-smiled. "Hurry up."

"Yes, darling, I will," he answered as he opened the door, glancing back at her before turning and heading out into the hallway. She heard the door close and her lips curved back into their frown as the atmosphere shifted and she found herself alone again. At least for the last few minutes she had smiled, thought about something other than trying not to think, even if it had been Morris who had provided the respite.

_God, _she sighed, taking a square pillow from the couch and curling her arms around it against her chest. She did not want to go down this road again, not with this man. She knew exactly how it would happen, because it was exactly how it happened the first time. He would charm her. He would make her laugh. She knew how much she loved that about him. He would build her up. He would declare his love for her in a thousand different ways, and maybe that was the worst part. He had pulled her in so easily before, had treated her like nobody else she had ever known. He knew how to make her feel like a queen. At the same time, he could make her feel worthless with one careless word or one glance at another woman. And eventually, the bad would outweigh the good, and his deep flaws would drive her away. Chloe had promised herself a long time ago that she would never go there again, for more reasons than she cared to count. But it had felt so good to smile, to laugh - to see Morris at his best, as the man she would always love with some part of her heart. Then the thought crossed her mind, so quickly she didn't see it coming; _Why can't Jack be more like him?_

It seemed an odd question, considering Jack's flaws were not comparable to Morris' by anyone's standards, but as she thought about it, her thought became clearer. She never doubted that Morris loved her - even when he hurt her, even when he was unbearably stupid, it was never in doubt in her mind that he loved her from the moment he first saw her. Jack, on the other hand, had been sending mixed signals for years, and the only thing she knew for sure was that he loved Audrey and they were supposedly happily shacked up together. She wasn't even sure if his signals were indeed mixed or if her wishful mind was confusing them with her own surely doomed feelings. If Jack could just be half as open and _available _as Morris...

It felt good to know that she was loved - not merely appreciated or fondly thought of. Surely, she hoped, there wasn't anything wrong with that.

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Day had given way to night, and Jack was preparing to trek home from CTU. The promising new leads had led him to three different locations all throughout the city, none of them yielding anything useful. He had returned to the agency to find Curtis' sister and father gathering his belongings to take home, and he realized he never knew that Curtis even had a father and sister. Finding the man who had taken him from them was the one thing he knew he could do to alleviate at least some of the tragedy's overwhelming senselessness, but it wasn't coming easily. Bill finally ordered him to go home around 8 PM, though he initially resisted. Then he remembered Chloe.

When he was ready to leave he found Audrey still at her station, sifting through the pile of paperwork his missions of the day had left her. "Audrey," he said upon reaching her, not surprised to be greeted with a tired glance. "Are you almost done here?"

"Yeah, almost," she replied, pushing her custom reading glasses up from the bridge of her nose. "Why?"

"I'm heading home," he replied, "I thought we could grab dinner first, or..."

"Yeah, I've got a few things to care of after I'm done here, so I don't think so," she replied, turning to see the awkward nod he eventually gave her. "But I'll come by your place later. I think we both know we have a lot to talk about."

A silence filled the air before Jack finally nodded and responded. "Yeah. Okay," he muttered before leaning in and dropping a kiss on her cheek when she didn't turn her lips to his. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," she quietly replied as she watched him walk away, unaware that he was almost glad she turned him down. He had something to take care of himself, and he doubted that Audrey would have been particularly happy about it.

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"Everybody thinks House is so snarky," Morris rambled to Chloe as they sat curled up on her couch with her mostly abandoned TV actually turned on. "But he has nothing on you. Or me for that matter."

Chloe blinked slowly in response and sighed, not paying much attention to what they were watching but finding the noise of the television lulling in a way, drowning out her mind and the much less pleasant noise inside of it. She was, however, about to draw the the line at Morris' running commentary, which was taking a turn for the obnoxious, before there was a knocking at the door and the jolting of her nerves. Morris immediately reached out a hand and said softly, "Relax, love, I'll take care of it."

Slowly she relaxed her shoulders as Morris rose and approached the door, and she hugged her arms tight around her body as she waited to learn who was dropping by. She heard the locks clank as they were dislodged and then the creak of the door itself, followed by a silence after it was opened. "Jack," she finally heard Morris sputter out,

"Jack?" she half-exclaimed, bursting off of the couch and turning to see Jack standing in her doorway, clutching a small white paper bag and looking from Morris to her in unhidden confusion. Morris stepped away and she replaced him at the door as Jack quickly caught himself and found his voice. "Hey."

"Hey," she mirrored, glancing back as Morris left the room to idle somewhere else less obvious. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just..." his eyes wandered inside to the empty fast food containers and humming television, and suddenly he felt incredibly stupid. "Just wanted to bring you a dinner, but I guess I didn't need to."

She took the bag when it was offered to her, and she looked down as she muttered a thank you. A moment passed and his voice broke the awkward ice between them. "Chloe, can I talk to you for a minute?"

He gestured into the hall, and she replied, "Yeah, I guess." She set the bag down by the door and followed him out into the hallway and felt her anxiety rise as he closed the door and turned to her. "Chloe," he began, "do you trust him?"

"Morris?" she squinted, receiving a nod in response. "In what way? I mean, with him, that's kind of a loaded question, if you know what I mean."

"I didn't know he even existed until earlier today when CTU called him in to replace you," Jack explained, watching her nose wrinkle in confusion.

"He was brought in to replace me? He didn't tell me that," she sighed, quickly deciding he was probably just trying to avoid a sore subject. "But I still don't know what you're getting at."

Really what he wanted to ask was why she was evidently allowing Morris to make himself comfortable in her apartment and her life when just that morning she had been so resistant of Jack's efforts. "I just don't want to see you get hurt," he said quietly, looking down to the floor.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, knowing the awkwardness hanging in the air was different from the kind she was used to.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he quickly brushed off. "How about you?"

She shrugged gently, looking away as she replied, "Not much different, I guess. I'm watching TV for the first time in months."

A small smile formed on his lips in response, and his eyes brightened as he looked over her. "You look better."

"Thanks," she muttered, crossing her arms against her chest as she inwardly cringed at what she could only imagined she looked like since the last time she'd glanced in a mirror. "How's Audrey?" she asked spontaneously, unsure of quite why she cared or why she was asking. Or why Jack was hesitating to answer.

"She's fine," he finally replied, the thought of telling her what Audrey had seen that morning unbearable. That was one event she didn't need to be informed of. "Listen, I'll get going, but.."

A small flutter flew across her stomach, briefly replacing the numbness inside, as he reached a hand to her arm and squeezed lightly. " I know I've said this before, but I want to make sure you understand that I'm serious. I want you to know that you can call me for anything at anytime, I don't care for what. I want you to know that you can trust me to be there for you."

She looked into his eyes and swallowed down the lump in her throat, finding herself sick and tired of how perfect this man was. Every word he said, every move he made, every time he touched her, it always had to seem so perfect and yet..._not, _because no matter how 'there' he was for her, the part she wanted most, and needed most, wasn't 'there' with the rest of him. And if she didn't keep pushing him away the way she was, her already broken heart would shatter that much more, that she was sure of. "Thanks," she repeated, his hand lingering on her shoulder and his eyes remaining locked into hers. Seconds passed and he didn't move, and she was starting to get nervous by the look he had on his face and the way his fingertips started kneading the shoulder they rested on. And unless her eyes were playing tricks on her mind, he was getting closer.

Then the hand was gone and he was stepping away, and she snapped out of her sudden daze to see Morris standing in the now-open doorway and asking if everything was alright. She rolled her eyes, the question incredibly stupid and obviously an excuse for Morris to poke his head out of the door and interrupt them. "Yeah, everything's fine," she scowled, watching Jack shift about the way he did when he was extremely uncomfortable and itching to get the hell out of a situation.

"I'll get going now," Jack muttered, offering Chloe a half-hearted smile and Morris a barely passable nod. "Remember what I said," he added, watching Chloe nod in response before he turned and started down the hallway. Halfway to the elevator, he turned just in time to watch Morris place an arm around Chloe's shoulders and lead her back inside her apartment. And then words tumbled through his mind, words that would have spilled from his mouth had he actually believed it was his mind that had formed them and believed them.

_That should be me._

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It was a few hours later, and neither Jack or Audrey had spoken a word to each other since she had arrived at his apartment, despite the purpose of her presence being the serious talk they were supposed to have tonight. God help him, Jack was trying. He was trying to wrestle his mind away from its distant preoccupation and focus on the woman who seemed just about as far away as he was, but the only thing he could think about was his semi-epiphany in Chloe's hallway and what the hell he was supposed to do with it. Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe an overprotective overreaction to the distress of a friend - that would have made sense enough if he hadn't also known what would have happened if Morris had not poked his head out when he did. He knew exactly what would have happened. He would have pulled her close to him, brushed her mess of charmingly haphazard hair from her face, and kissed her with everything he had until her pain was gone, until his pain was gone, until none of the noise and none of the chaos mattered anymore.

He was so far into his head that he didn't notice when Audrey emerged from his bathroom clad in a t-shirt and little else, her golden hair out of its knot and flowing freely past her shoulders as she sauntered toward his seat on the couch with a face free of the glares she had been shooting him all day. She didn't care what he was thinking about, if it was Chloe, CTU, or little green aliens. This was what they did when one or both was angry. This was the upside of fighting. This, she was convinced, was at least one thing they could share tonight, amidst all of the recent weirdness that had left their relationship who knew where.

Suddenly he was shook from his daze when his face was lifted into the cradle of two hands, and he was kissed hard and fast before he had time to register what was happening. Audrey lowered herself onto his lap and straddled his waist as his hands relaxed from their almost defensive mid-air post to her hips, though they didn't seem very comfortable there either. Reluctantly, she tried to slow down for him. "I thought you wanted to talk," he pointed out when she tore her lips away long enough to breathe.

"I'm sick of talking," she replied breathlessly. "All we ever do is talk." She then kissed him again, trying for a few moments to satisfy herself with just his lips to give him time to catch up with her - never mind that "catching up" had never been an issue before - but her patience was nonexistent, and soon her wandering hands were tugging at his belt and had almost gotten the thing off when he broke their kiss and spoke again.

"Audrey," he whispered as she slowly came to a stop and met his eyes.

"What?" she asked, a terse edge stinging her words.

"I...honestly, Audrey, I can't do this right now."

She narrowed her stare and felt the anger slowly creep back to front of her mind. "Jack, do you know how long it's been?"

He kept silent when he realized he didn't know. "It's been a really long day, Audrey."

"Yeah," she snorted quietly, sliding off of him and all but storming back to the bathroom. Jack leaned forward and took a deep breath as he lowered his head into his hands. What had happened overnight to cause this? He hadn't felt like this yesterday, at least he didn't think so. Yesterday he wouldn't have offered the lame "long day" excuse to get out of having sex, let alone angry sex, with the woman he loved. Since when was that something worth lying to get out of? Then the words came again, echoing loudly through his memory.

_That should be me._

He had to admit, that brief passing thought of what might have happened without Morris' interruption was far more enticing than the real thing that he had just been offered and turned down. It was different, strange even when he considered the situation, and yet it felt right. If he had time to analyze it, which he didn't, he may have likened the feeling to when a lyric gets stuck in your head and plays over and over, yet you can't remember for the life of you what song it's from, until _bam_, something triggers and you just _know_, as if it were there all along right under your nose.

Again Audrey emerged from the bathroom, this time fully clothed and fully pissed, and she wasted no time in gathering her purse and moving for the door, all without a word. Jack rose from the couch and called after her out of instinct, succeeding in stopping her just as she placed her hand on the doorknob of the front door.

She turned and gave him a look that was more sad than anything. "Whatever's going on with you, Jack...figure it out. But don't call me until you do."

Then she was gone, not for the first time, but perhaps for the last time.


	5. Chapter 5

"Do you realize that you have 30 messages on your machine?"

"Yeah," Chloe muttered, taking a box of stale cereal down from a cabinet in her kitchen as Morris stood looking over the phone a few yards away. "Why?"

"Well...don't you want to listen to them? Maybe even answer the phone every once in awhile?" he chided as she strode past him to the nearby little table that served as its own dining room.

She popped open the flaps and dumped a small amount of the unsweetened contents into a bowl in front of her. "Don't you work, Morris? Shouldn't there be somewhere you have to be?"

"Nowhere I can't take a few days off from," he sighed, taking to the chair across the table from her. "Though now that you mention it, I think it's time we have a bit of a talk about this."

"What?" she asked wearily before bringing a spoonful to her lips and promptly spitting it out.

"You finding work," Morris offered quietly. "I know it's soon, but it can't be put off."

"I know," she sighed, dropping her spoon into the bowl with a loud clank. "I've been thinking about it. It's so weird because I've been at the same place for so long, and now..."

She bit her lip and fell silent, trying not to feel a sense of grief for losing her place at CTU. Morris reached across the table and took one of her hands in his. "I know it's hard, darling, but maybe this can be the silver lining in this huge dark cloud. Maybe it's your time to move on and go on to bigger and better things."

The phone then rang and Morris let go of her hand, standing as he said, "Let's answer it this time, shall we?"

Chloe stared down at the tasteless contents of her abandoned bowl as he picked up the phone, her mind drifting to her lack of a car and lack of any real idea where she wanted to go with her suddenly toilet-abiding career until she looked up to find the phone in her face.

"Who is it?" she asked, her scowl deepening.

"It's Jack," Morris replied. "Who else?"

She rolled her eyes and snatched the phone away, breathing in deeply before pressing it to her ear. "Hello."

"Hey," Jack replied, "how are you?"

"Um...fine, I guess. Are you calling from CTU?"

"No, actually...that's why I'm calling. I didn't want to do this over the phone, but I don't have time to do it any other way."

"Do what?" Chloe asked, getting noticeably nervous as Morris stood nearby and looked on.

He paused. "Today's Curtis' funeral, Chloe. I'm on my way there right now."

She hadn't even thought about Curtis having a funeral. She didn't know why she hadn't, or why the idea alone seemed to bring to the forefront all of the feelings she had been burying.

"Chloe?"

"I'm here," she choked out.

"Listen, I really think you should be there. I know it's the last place you want to be, but you need this closure, Chloe, trust me."

"I don't think I can, Jack," she replied, rising out of her chair and wandering out of the kitchen to the living room, where she stood leaning on and looking outside of a foggy window. "I mean, all of those people that are going to be there..."

"You wouldn't be doing it for them. You'd be doing it for yourself."

She closed her eyes and ran down the list of names who would be in attendance. The thought of facing Bill and the rest of CTU after everything that had happened nearly turned her stomach. "I can't."

There was a long pause before Jack responded. "Are you sure about this?"

"About not wanting to see everyone there mourning him so I can feel even worse about everything? Yeah, Jack, I'm sure."

He paused again, this time as he pulled into the nearly full parking lot of the church-like funeral home. It was luxurious-feeling place if nothing else. "Listen, if you change your mind, the service starts in a couple of hours."

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "Thanks for telling me anyway."

He turned off the ignition and paused as he looked out to the small stream of mourners making their way inside. "Yeah."

She then took the phone from her ear and clicked it off, a part of her still wondering how it could have come to this when Morris rustled from behind and took the phone from her grasp. "Everything alright?"

"No," she scowled, turning and walking past him en route back to the kitchen. "Curtis' funeral is today."

She plopped down at the table and unconsciously pouted to herself. A week ago if somebody had told her that Curtis would be killed and she would purposely miss his funeral, it certainly would have seemed absurd, and it was absurd. Everything was absurd, and for her routine-driven life to be thrown into such uncharted territory was to deprive her of the little bit of security that she had.

"Let me guess," Morris said from behind as he placed his hands on her tense shoulders and kneaded softly. "Jack thinks you should go for closure's sake."

"Yeah," she nodded, staring ahead and hoping Morris would come up with some counter argument so she wouldn't feel like she was making a mistake.

"He's right," Morris replied. "This is your chance to say goodbye the right way. It's an important step, Chloe, you know that."

She did know. Her mother kept her from her father's funeral when she was a girl, out of some desire to protect her, and Chloe never forgave her for denying her a proper goodbye. "I don't think I can face everyone, Morris, I...I just can't."

"Since when do you give a damn what those people think about you?"

"Since they think that I helped kill their friend," she replied.

"That's what they expect you to do, Chloe. They expect you to hide under a rock and let their words get to you. This is your chance to move on and prove how wrong they are." He paused and gave her shoulders a squeeze before adding, "Don't let them take this from you."

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The viewing was crowded, full of the people that this one man's life had touched in its shortened time, and whether or not it was morbid or inappropriate, Jack wondered what his own funeral would be like should he not wake to see tomorrow. He had already been mourned once by the people who cared for him, only to return alive and largely unwelcomed - would they bother to show up the second time around?

His eyes turned to Curtis' father, holding his last remaining child close as they stood in front of the closed coffin and cried quiet streams. Jack tried to picture his own father and brother in the same position. The mere idea almost made him laugh, an unfortunate urge to have at a funeral, but it also just as easily could have brought tears to his eyes. He cast the thought out of his mind, turning on his heel and coming face to face with Audrey, who had arrived separately and hadn't acknowledged him once since he arrived.

"Hey," he faintly smiled as she pursed her lips and looked down to her high heeled feet, the awkwardness palpable since last night's events.

"Hi," she returned, forcing herself to at least not scowl as she replied, "How long have you been here?"

"Not long, I just..." his eyes looked beyond her shoulders as his voice trailed off and led her to glance behind her, completely unsurprised to find him distracted by Chloe's arrival. He looked back to her and muttered "Excuse me," to which she nodded as he passed her by. It would have been nice if he had at least made the effort not to be so obvious, but Audrey expected nothing less.

Chloe and Morris stood in the hallway outside of the viewing room, Chloe clutching his arm for dear life until Jack came into view. Her grip relaxed and until it fell altogether.

"Chloe," he greeted, stepping into the hallway and offering a short nod to Morris before turning his eyes back to hers and placing a gentle hand on her upper arm. "I'm glad you came."

She nodded and looked past him back into the room and saw Bill & Karen among the occupants, and the comfort brought by Jack's presence started to dwindle. "Yeah, I just...you were right, I should be here, I guess," she muttered, quickly casting her eyes down to the floor when Bill looked back at her.

"You okay?" he asked, searching her eyes as his hand continue to linger and catch Morris' eye.

"As okay as I'll ever be," she shrugged.

Jack nodded and asked softly, "You want to go in?" She nodded and started to follow him inside, taken aback when Morris draped and arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side, forcing Jack's hand to fall. She shot him a glare before she realized she had passed through the doorway and was now in full view of the crowd.

Her eyes darted past all of the mourners to the front of the room and the coffin that sat quietly underneath a soft overhead light, adorned by several simple but beautiful floral arrangements. She was relieved to find it closed, though she also worried for the reason why. The sight seemed calming, almost like the worst was over and maybe she really could do this. She drew a deep breath and snapped out of her half-daze to find Jack and Morris silently flanking her and staring intently at her, almost as if to watch for an impending breakdown.

"Not helping," she rolled her eyes, stepping forward and away from the two men only to be brought to a halt by a voice calling her name quietly nearby. She turned to find Milo, who looked visibly relieved by the fact that she had come. It was a bit of a relief to see him as well - he had been sent home early that day, one of the few not to witness the tragedy unfold and Bill's subsequent unraveling. She knew - or rather, hoped - that he would have stood up for her had he been there.

"I am so sorry, Chloe," Milo said softly into her ear as he took her into his arms and embraced her snugly, almost bringing tears to her eyes with the sincerity in his voice.

"Thanks," she nodded, pulling away and sniffing back her sudden emotion.

"I've tried callng you every day since this happened," he said, watching a scowl cross her face. "I've left like five messages. I understand if you don't want to be bothered, but I want you to know I'm here for you, if there's anything I can do."

"Thanks," she sighed. "Everything's just been really weird and I've been avoiding , well, everything, so..."

Milo nodded and glanced over at Morris and Jack, who appeared to be conversing. "I swear," he said with an edge to his voice that caught her attention, "the things I've heard some of these morons say about you..."

She looked down and shifted nervously, not wanting to hear about it but pausing when he continued. "You know Ron in IT?"

"What about him?" she asked, sure that he had wonderful things to say about her - he always did.

Milo replied by raising his right hand and showing her a string of bruises across his knuckles. Chloe's face almost lit up at the sight. "You punched Ron in IT?"

"Yeah, and then I fired him," he replied as the smallest little grin crossed her face.

Across the room, Karen was trying her best to bully Bill into coming to his senses, but it was a losing battle.

"You don't have to rehire her, Bill," she urged quietly as he stood staring down with his hands planted adversarily on his hips. "All you have to do is go over there and ask her how she's holding up and if there's anything you can do for her. For God's sake, Bill, she was as much a friend as an employee, and she more than proved herself in both areas to deserve a lot better than this."

"I don't know what you think I can do, Karen, I don't," he argued stubbornly. "Now, today is supposed to be about Curtis, and I think it would be best if we tried to keep it that way."

"And you think Curtis would approve of what she's had to go through these last few days? He would be the first to defend her, and you know that just as well as I do."

Bill sighed, for a moment appearing to consider her words before muttering, "I'm sorry, Karen, not today."

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Chloe was starting to get claustrophobic, and Jack could tell. She had reserved herself to a corner where she chewed on her lip and watched Morris chat with others a few feet away, and an idea came to him.

Chloe watched as Jack found Curtis' father and spoke to him, surprised when they both turned to look at her halfway through the conersation. She quickly looked away, glancing back a few seconds later to see the father nod and give Jack's shoulder a soft pat. And then, one by one, she watched in confusion as the room started to empty at the father's quiet instructions. She was turning to leave as well when Jack's hand on her shoulder stopped and turned her around. "You can stay, Chloe."

"What's going on?" she asked as Morris lingered a short distance away, unsure of what he was supposed to do.

"I asked Curtis' father to clear the room to gie you a few minutes alone with him," he explained softly. "I know how uncomfortable this is for you, and since the service is starting soon this might be your only chance to have some privacy."

Again her eyes welled with tears, and again she willed them from spilling. "Thank you, Jack."

He nodded, brushing a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll get Morris and go wait outside, okay?"

"No, wait," she immediately called as soon as he started to step away. "I don't want you to go."

He paused and glanced at Morris, who was clearly biting his tongue and seconds away from demanding an end to his curiosity. "Okay. What about Morris?"

She looked down and pursed her lips, giving him all the answer he needed. He turned and asked quietly, "Morris, could you give us a few minutes alone?"

Morris looked from Jack to Chloe and suppressed his knee-jerk reaction to simply say no and claim his territory. Now wasn't the time. "Sure," he nodded, giving Chloe a small parting smile before turning to leave.

The door closed and they were alone.

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Outside, Milo found Morris - who he only knew in passing and generally had zero regard for after hearing several of Chloe's pre-divorce stories - and asked him what the hell was going on. "Where's Chloe? I didn't see her leave."

"She didn't," Morris replied. "She's taking a few minutes alone. With Jack," he tersely added. A look Morris could only describe as _knowing_ crossed Milo's face and piqued his interest. "What?"

Milo paused, considering whether this was the time or the place to say what he was thinking, but not knowing when the opportunity might present itself again. "Listen," he began, "I don't really know why you're here hovering around her like it's the normal thing to do after disappearing from her life for four years, but some of us have been here for her through some of the hardest times in her life, and nobody more than Jack. And that's something you'll have to get used to if you want to be a part of her life."

If he had been anywhere else - _anywhere_ else - Morris would have let his tongue loose and ripped Milo to shreds, but instead he merely glared at the man as he walked away. He knew he was right. He could see it in Chloe's eyes every time she spoke Jack's name. There was something special there, something that he suspected he could never touch.

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"Is it closed because he's..." Chloe's voice cracked, unable to speak the words.

"No, I saw him," Jack assured her. "His family just preferred it closed." He looked into her eyes as deeply as her forward stare would allow and tried to read her. She had spoken barely a word after they had approached the coffin, taking to just staring at the pictures provided and touching the occasional rose from an arrangement. She was clearly adrift in her own mind, but Jack thought he might know what she wanted but was too afraid to ask for. "Do you want me to open it?"

Her suddenly widened eyes shot up to meet his. "Are you sure? I mean, shouldn't you get somebody else to do it?"

"No, I don't think so," he shrugged.

She paused, taking a deep breath and holding it. This was something she honestly didn't think she could handle. But it was also a key part of closure, and she only got one chance to complete the process.

A hand reached out and took hers. "It's okay, Chloe," Jack whispered, watching her finally exhale with a sigh.

She could almost believe it was really okay when she heard it from his lips. "Okay," she nodded.

His hand left hers with a gentle squeeze, and she took a nervous step back as Jack started removing the flowers from the lid and placing them carefully aside. When it was clear he released several latches and turned back to Chloe. "Ready?"

She nodded and braced herself. She crossed her arms tightly against her chest, not realizing how deeply she was digging her fingernails into the skin of her forearms, as the top was slowly lifted up. She kept her eyes down until Jack turned around and put an arm around her shoulders. He wasn't rushing her, and she was grateful. But her heart was urging her forward, and eventually, she placed one foot in front of the other and stepped forward, letting her eyes rise and rest their gaze on her friend.

Relief poured where she anticipated horror and devastation, and Jack could tell by the way her shoulders relaxed inside of his arm. She let her breathing slow as she took in the peace that seemed to descend upon the room. He looked like he always had, like she would always remember him. There was nothing of that night, none of the screams, none of the pain that everyone had felt but she had taken on tenfold. There was only peace.

Tears started to fall down her cheeks, and for once, it didn't hurt to let them flow. They came from somewhere else, somewhere that needed this release so badly it was almost exhilarating to finally feel the dam burst and spill where it pleased. It took a minute before she realized what it was.

_Acceptance_.

Then she was being pulled into a familiar embrace, where a shoulder awaited her tears and arms promised to not let go. A hand ran through her hair, holding her as closely as was possible without crushing her. If she had pulled away long enough to look into his eyes, Chloe would have known that she had brought Jack to tears himself.

Neither noticed as the door to the hallway was cracked open and a pair of eyes peered inside. Morris bore witness to the scene unfolding before him, and though he tried to be shocked, he wasn't. There was nothing more natural than what he was watching, no two people who fit one another so perfectly as these two. Audrey had seen it several days ago in Jack's apartment. This was Morris' turn.

He closed the door and felt his heart grow heavy inside of him. He loved her too much to give up. He had to fight for her. He would give it one last try, and if it didn't work, he would let her go for good. If it did work, he would once again have what he lost to his own fault years ago, the woman he never stopped loving.

Inside, Chloe's eyes were starting to dry. She reluctantly lifted her head from his shoulder and removed a hand from his back to wipe away the dampness on her face, but she was stopped by Jack's hands reaching up to cradle her face. She lifted her eyes to his and saw the lingering moisture shining back at her through a stare too intense to look away from. She froze when his thumbs ran across her jawlines on either side of her face, his eyes never leaving hers and making each second pass by slower than the one before. She was at anything but peace now, and she almost let her knees buckle from underneath her when he brushed over her bottom lip with one of his wandering thumbs. His eyes finally fell to her mouth and he leaned in without hesitation, taking her lips with his and feeling the breath rush out of her in a silent gasp.

Chloe forgot where she was and let the pure shock running through her veins take hold of her mind and shut it down, allowing her arms to rise and wrap around his neck as he nudged her lips apart with his tongue and deepened the kiss. He had all but shut down as well, losing a little bit more control when she kissed him back and strained to pull him closer against her. The moment threatened to spin out of control until one wayward hand on the small of her back snapped Chloe out of it and forced her to realize what she was doing and jerk away.

"Oh God," she muttered, breathing heavily and fast as she unwrapped her arms from his neck. Jack saw the panic in her eyes and tied not to let it spread to his.

"I'm sorry, I...I shouldn't have," Jack murmured, letting her release herself from his arms. "Not here."

She swallowed hard and tried to process everything, a task she couldn't even begin to undertake. She worried that she had just ruined an otherwise perfect moment, just like she ruined everything.

"Chloe?"

She looked up at him and muttered quietly, "I have to go," before turning and heading for the door, her head hung low. The door closed behind her and Jack was alone, save for the voice in his head asking him why he had to be so damned stupid.

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Chloe burst outside and felt fresh air fill up her struggling lungs and give her one brief moment of clarity before it faded, leaving her to slump forward and take to sitting down on a step. She stared into the full parking lot in front of her and tried to regain that sense of peace she had felt, that warmth that had taken her by surprise before she let her stupid feelings get in the way and ruin it. It was as if one turmoil had been partially lifted only to give way to another, one more confusing and almost surreal. A part of her still couldn't believe that Jack had actually kissed her, but her body told her otherwise, still reeling from the electric shock of his lips and hands and..._God, it really was real,_ she marveled silently.

Behind her the front door opened and heels clicked out, alerting her to somebody's presence. Chloe first suspected to turn and find Audrey - her heels always clicked the loudest, as if to proclaim dominance or something - but instead she turned to find Karen Hayes, closing the door behind her and offering the slightest of smiles.

Chloe turned forward and sighed, unsure of what to expect as Karen took a seat beside her on the step. They sat silently for a long moment before Karen broke the ice as best she could. "I'm not sure how best to say this, Chloe, but...I am very sorry for the ordeal you've been put through these last few days," she quietly began before pausing and adding, "and I'm very sorry for Bill's role in it."

"Yeah, well, I bet he isn't," she snapped before cringing at her own words and glancing apologetically at the other woman. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Karen shrugged. "The truth is, Chloe, he does realize that what he did and what he said to you was terribly wrong, but...he's going through a lot as well right now, and he;s doing the best that he knows to do."

Chloe stayed silent, staring down at her hands before Karen spoke again, this time clearer and with more authority to her voice. "But that's not the reason why I came out here to talk to you."

Chloe lifted her eyes and muttered, "Why, then?"

Karen took a breath and started from the beginning. "I've been appointed by the President to lead NSA. It's still being processed, and it hasn't been made fully public yet, but I'm preparing to move back to Washington within the month. Now, I understand if this is too soon for you, and that's why I'm telling you this now so you can think about it and make your decision."

"Decision about what?" Chloe squinted before it dawned on her. "You want me to work for you? At NSA?" She paused, the next words sending a mild shudder through her spine. "In Washington?"

Karen nodded, watching fear cloud Chloe's eyes. "Like I said, I know this is early, but-"

"What would I do there?" Chloe interrupted, finding her knee-jerk fearful reaction slowly tun into something that felt like excitement...almost.

:The same thing you did at CTU," Karen replied. "except you would be paid twice as much and you would have authority over your team that you never had at CTU."

Chloe had worked in Washington before, and she knew the environment. She came to Los Angeles to escape it, and now she was faced with the opportunity o going back to escape LA. "I...I don't know if I can."

Karen nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Take all the time you need. Just think about it."

With that, Karen rose to her feet, leaving Chloe to sort through the mess that was her thoughts. She heard the door close and signal her solitude, and she took a look at her surroundings. She didn't think she could step foot here, either, but she did. She didn't think she had it in her to to face the people who had witnessed her downfall, but she did. She didn't think she had the strength to say goodbye to Curtis, but she did.

Now she wondered what else she had the strength for.


End file.
